Pasteurizing.



F. GETTBLMAN.

v PASTEURIZING. APPLICATION FILED IBB. e, 1912.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

. F100/i1 01E.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4,1913.

Application led February 6, 1912. Serial No, 675,853.

To all` .10h/1m t may concern:

Be-:it known that I, FREDERICK GETrEL- MAN,acitizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of -Mil Awaukee andState of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improve-` mentsin Pasteurizing; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, effective andaccurate method of pasteurizing, the same being accomplished throughapparatus of the general character disclosed in the patent issued to mefor pasteurizing apparatus, dated' April 11, 1911, No. 989,14

In general the method consists in subjecting the bottled product tosuccessive interrupted immersions in water contained in separate vats,thewater in each vat being at an initial predetermined temperature'whereby said product is gradually brought to the exact pasteurizingtemperature desired, at which temperature it is sustained for a periodof time and thereafter gradually lowered in temperature preparatory tobeing removed from the pasteurizing apparatus,

This method is especially adapted to pasteurize milk, although it is aparent that any product may be .treatedwith eiiciency and that while Ihave particularly described the mouths of the vessels as being open thatin some instances paper closures for the same may be utilized whichwould provide the necessary vent owing to such closures not forming aperfect seal.

With the above objects in view the invention consists in what is hereinshown and described with reference to the accompanying illustrations andsubsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents adiagram view of a pasteurizingapparat-us em-v bodying the features Yofmy invention, and Fig. 2, adetail cross-section--of a fragment of the conveyer chain and supportingmeans together with a portion of one of the carriers, the section beingindicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring by characters to the drawings l indicates a housing forming achamber having a verticalv opening 2 therein that-constiproduct isdelivered to operators above the ioor-line of the building upon whichthe housing is supported, the well being disposed at the forward end ofthe chamber and through which an endless chain con' veyer 3 passes. Theconveyer chain is driven and supported a series of pulleys to behereinafter particularly mentioned mounted within and exteriorly of thechambery Suitably supported within the chamber are a series of vats A,B, C, D, the vats b eing filledA to a predetermined height with waterfrom supply-pipes 4, 4, 4a, 4b. Track-rails 5, 5a, 5b, and 5c aredisposed above the water-line of `the series of vats and serve aslongitudinal supporting guides for the chain conveyer. This chainconveyer is arranged to pass over a pulley 7 located above the top-wallof the chamber, the chain being thereafter passed over a pulley 7similarly located at the rear end of said chamber. Freni thence thechain passes down through an opening 2a at the rear end of the chambertop over a pulley 8 located above the first -vat A, from which point itis arranged to travel forwardly and over the guide-rail 5 under aguide-pulley 8a and from thence said chain is inclined up'- wardly andis arranged to travel over a pulportion by an upwardly inclined'sectionof v the guide-rail 5, which inclined section or stretch risesfromvpulley 8a to pulley 9. The conveyerl chain thereafter passesdownwardly over a pulley 10 that isdisposed above the vat B and fromthence it travels parallel to the water-line in said vatand above thesame to a guide-pulley 10, being upwardly inclinedat the rear end ofthevat B Where it asses over a pulley 11. The conveyer cham is thendirected downwardly at the rear end and under another pulley 12 thatisdisposed over vat C. From this pulley the chain travels forwardly undera guide-pulley l2 and over a large pu'lleyl which is disposed directlyabove the partition between vats l)`- and C, which vats are in thisinstance showny arranged-upon vthe same horizontal plane. The conveyerchain after lpassim overV pulley 13 is deflected downwardly y agui'de-pulley'12",-afstretch being then directed parallel-with'vat D andico over the same. The endlessv conveyer then .passes under a'pulley 14from whichl it ytravels upwardly through the well2 to the first pulley 7whereby the cycleis completed. tutes a well through which the.pasteurized y A endless chain conveyer-s thus pass in'zl'g-'zag `mannerback and forth vover vthe series of From the foregoing it will be seenthat-the as it enters and leaves each vat in order to immerse thebottled product in the vat water. Each portion of the bottled product iscon'- tained in a vessel 15, groups of which are assembled in a seriesof carriers 15 that are pivotally suspended from rods 16, which rods arecarried by the chain convcyer, the rods being provided with antifrictionrollers 17 arranged to contact with the guiderails. By the abovedescribed construction the several stretches of the aforesaid chainconveyor are relieved of sagging strain to which they would otherwise besubjected and thus friction being reduced to aminimum a proportionatelyless amount of power is required to operate the apparatus. Furthermoreit is apparent that owing to the arrangement of guide-rails whichsupport the carriers 15 that the latter are always held in a positionwhereby they are submerged ata predetermined depth. By this arrangementthe vessels or bottles 15a containing the productl can be submerged tothe proper depth so that their necks are above the water-line and canthus be open to the atmosphere without danger of injury to the contentsthereof incidental to travel through the sterilizing liquid.

Each bottle-carrier 15 has secured thereto a shield 18 that is connectedto the supporting bails 15b of the carrier and is disposed just abovethe open mouths of the vessels whereby they are protected and any waterdrippings or foreign matter that may drop upon the tray incidental toits travel is deflected from the vented vessels whereby their contentswill not be polluted.

As clearly shown in the diagram a heat regulator in the form of a coiledipe 19 is arranged in juxtaposition to the orward end of the rst vat A,which coiled'pipe parallels the vertical stretch ac of the conveyerchain between said vat and the second vat B. A similar coil 20, which,in this instance, is adapted to receive a cooling medium, is mount-edwithin the chamber in juxtaposition to thevertical stretch 31/ of theconveyor chain that passes from the second vat B to the third vat C, thelatter vat being provided with water which is designed as a coolingmedium, being of slightly lower temperature than the water containedin"vat B, which vat may be termed the sterilizing vat and, fois example,contains water at a temperature of approximately 149. The last vat D ofthe series may be termed a cooling vat and contains water which may, asshown, be held at a predetermined low temperature by a cooling mediumthat is introduced indirectly thereto through a coiled pipe 21.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that in carrying out my improvedmethod of pasteurizing that the product on entering the chamber isapproximately at atmospheric temperature and thevessels containnomme ingthe product. being open to atmosphere as previously mentioned, saidvessels are first submerged in vat A, which contains water at a desiredintermediate temperature whereby the product is raised in temper aturegradually preparatory to being submerged 'in the pasteurizng vat B.Before entering said vat the product is re-heated in its traveldownwardly by indirecty radiation from the heating coil 19 and thus inits travel from thek first vat to the pasteurizing'vat the temperatureof the product is held constant or slightly preheated. Hence there is nosudden rise in the temperature of the product as it is submerged intothe liquid containing vat B. Pasteurizing is effected as the carriercontaining the product passes from the forward end to the rear .end ofvat B and thereafter it is desirable to gradually cool the pasteurizedproduct. The initial pre-cooling is effected by indirect contact withthe cooling medium introduced through coil 20. A further cool ing oftheproduct is effected as it travels through vat. C, the final coolingbeing ac-Iv complished incidental to the travel of the carrier throughvat D, the liquid in which, as shown, is maintained at a predeterminedtemperature by the cooling medium 21. The pasteurizing is now completedand the end-i less carrier raises the roduct up through the well 2 tothe floorm ine of the building where said product is unloaded in anydesired manner.

lVhi'le I have shown and described thef chamber as being provided withfour vats it is apparent that this number may be diminished or increasedin accordance with the conditions required with reference to the productto be sterilized, particular attention! being called to the fact thatthe product is pre-heated or pre-cooled by artificial means incidentalto its travel from one vat to the other, whereby sudden variations intemper-- .subjecting an atmospherieally exposed product to a series ofstep by step .water baths having progressively higher temperatures toeffect sterilization, preeating the product by indirect radiationbetween the water baths of progressively higher temperatures,

iis

and thereafter subjecting said product, step by step, to a series ofwater bathshaving progressively lower temperatures relative to themaximum temperature of the first named series, and pre-cooling theproduct between the cooling baths by subjecting said product to theiniuence of an indlrect cooling medium.

2. A pasteurizing method consisting in subjecting the product to aseries of step by ste water baths having progressively hig ertemperatures to effect sterilization,

pre-heating the product by indirect radi-- ation between the water bathsof progressively higher temperatures, and thereafter subjecting` saidproduct, step by step, to a series of water baths having progressivelylower temperatures relative to the maximum temperature of the firstnamed series, and

pre-cooling the product between the cooling 20 bathsiby Asubjecting saidproduct to the'iniuence of an indirect cooling medium. y

In testimony that I claim the' foregoing I have hereunto set my handatMilwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of 25

